Footwear.



N. M. RUTHSTEIN.

FOOTWEAR.

urLIoATIoN funn nso. 21, 190s.

- 1,26,407. Patented May14,1912.

UNTTED sTATEs PATENT oEEIoE.

NATHAN M. RUTHSTEIN, F RACINE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO 'STEEL SHOE COM.-

PANY, 0F RACINE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF WISCONSIN.

FOOTWEAR.

,To vlll-whom `itmay concern.

Be it known that I, NATHANAM. RUTH- `STEIN, a citizen of the United States, residl\ The object of the invention is to provide a construction ."n articles of the character specified whereby the knobs or spurs or bosses on the under face of the sole and heel may be replaced and renewed at any time.

With this object in view the invention comprises the matters hereinafter setl forth and then recited in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing which illustrates practical embodiments of the several features of my invention, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a shoe illustrating my present improvements, parts being broken away for clearness of illustration; Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the shoe shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 isa .dtail plan view of the vamp shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the constructiomshown in Fig. 2; and Fig. 5 is a sectional view illustrating a modified form of construction.

Referring to the drawing, the bottom of the shoe is made of sheet-metal stamped 11p in a die to form the sole 5, hollow heel 6, shank 7, the latter being suitably curved. and the opstanding marginal flange 8, the size and outline of these parts varying with different dimensions of the finished boots or shoes. The sole and heel portions are provided with knobs or bosses 9 and in order to carry out one of the objects of this invention, I provide a structure whereby these knobs may be readily removed and replaced. or renewed as they become worn. This may be accomplished in a variety of ways, but the simplest and most convenient as well as effective manner of doing it, to providel the sheet-metal of the bottom with a number of holes or perforations having the circumferential metal upset or turned inwardly as shown at 10 to form more extended bearings than would be provided merely by the Specification of Letters Patent.

.Application iled December 21, 1908. Serial Patentdiuay 14, 1912. no. 468,457.

thickness ofthe metal, thebearings being provided with interior screw threads in Vorder tomaykea threaded engagement vwith the corresponding screw threadsony the Shanks 11 ofthe knobs as clearly'shown. in F1g. 4. It 1s obvious that by this arrangement the knobs may be secured in 'place in an easy and convenient manner, .and when worn they may be removed andnew ones put in place. vAs the-wear ofvshoes or boots of this general character occurs in-the main upon the knobs or other projections with which'the bottoms are provided,.-the proi vision of renewable `or replaceable knobs prolonge the life of the boot or'sh'oe indefinitely as the wearer may himself-make the replacements or renewals at Vcomparatively insignificant cost and without returning. the

shoe to the factory. The heads of the knobs are provided with suitably .squared orV other shaped portions 12 adapted to receive a correspondingly shaped wrench or. toolv by,

which the threaded engagement' and disengagement of the Shanks be effected.

In shoes or boots of this general type the bottom is usually made of a' sheet of thin metal, usually sheet-steel, which is -not of sufficient thickness to afford a substantial and sufficiently extended bearing for the Shanks of the knobs, and the material for such bearings as are ne'cessary to provide secure fastcnings is readily obtained by the means above described. This could be effected by any other suitable means; for exand bearings may ample, a supplemental strip or piece of metal 13 could be employed extending along the line or lines of the holes and adapted to make threaded engagement with the knobs.V T. prefer the form in which the metal isv struck up as illustrated in Fig. 4 as this may be provided and made at the same time the bottom is struck up to shape and without employing any excess metal.

Roots or shoes of this kind are usually provided with a reinforcing strip 1 4 of leather or other suitable material extending around the margin of the vamp. quarter. and counter as shown in Fig. 1. Rivets 15 pass through the [lange` reinforce strip and matcriahof the shoe or boot to secure the parts. together. and the reinforce extends above thc edge of the flange and tits within its eont'our, standing vertically in place against the inner face thereof. The vamp 16 isi-Cumanth we' to ft the Curved teeportion .of the'iange, and in the manufacr ture-of these'shoes as heretofore practised it has been necessary to last the vamp in order .to takef-npilthe exeess or, fullness vof material" at 'the toegp'rod'ticed by the verti` cal or downturnedkirt 17 of the Vamp. This lasting lgnocessVA is expensive and consumesmuch t-ime; `fj obviate this objecl vtionable lasting by providing the skirt of the toe portion of the vampwith a series o f slit-s 18 which 'allow the eXeess'or'fulL- ness 'of material to be taken up when the vampis assembled in place. j This is clearly shownlin'Figs. 1 and 3. v v i v It is of course understood. that the heel portion may be lled 4in an suitable manner and that suitable inse es and linings maybel employed, these being nowA Well known'in the art and forming nofpartofthe present invention. y i

Having described my vinvention What I? claim is ,v

l. In a device' off'the` class deseribedg-ja", shoe having a` sheet-metal bottom comprisf ing the solefa-nd lheel and having a plurality of perforat-ions, the metal around the perforations providing inwardly extending knobs :z having sQreW-threadgd v shank`sf threaded engagement with the bearings f` for engagement and disengagement' therewith fromthentside of the shoe.

' 2. A s hoe bottom formed of draiwn sheet( metal and having openings in its 'lower side,

the metal at the edge of each opening being bent 'inwardly o'r upwardly outrof the plane screw-threaded bea-rings, "anda 'srs of of the body of the metal to form anangular i flange surrounding the opening'g1sai'd flange and opening being screw-threaded, 'and'.a lstud having a screw-threaded shankengagev ing with the -screw-thre'adsof 'said fiar-ige' and opening, the head of said studbeing of greater diameter than saidshankandhaw i'nga tapering lowerend 'and afvsgrench'face,y

saidihead and said flange lyn "atopposite gsides of the metal, said headf eilig-turnedinto 'water-tight 'contact with 'the lowerforv 4, ,outer surface 'ott-theInet-al.v`

i In testimony whereof-I lallixmy signature:` 50 

